Hello,
I just wanted to ask something about my 4-5 year old Pom, Nicky, that I've never asked before. After each time he goes potty outside, he kicks up the dirt or grass as if he was a cat covering his mess in a litter box. Do any of the Pom owners know what I'm talking about and is it common? Today when I took Nicky out to potty, as soon as he hit the grass he started kicking it up before he even pottied! Sometimes he does it on the road before he even gets to the grass. Is this common in this breed or is he displaying something else completely on his own? And should I allow him to do this or stop him?
Thanks,
Mahealani

Yes Sandi, he just got neutered about a month ago. Let me tell ya that it drives us nuts too! If we don't give him a swift little yank by his leash, he'd stand there all day and tear up the ground! lol Thanks for letting me know my dog isn't out of his mind and that we aren't the only ones! lol
It's crazy that he's displaying all that studliness outside but won't stop messing in his crate inside! Ugh!
Thanks,
Mahealani

It's weird because there are two interpretations of it. Dominant dogs who do it are supposedly spreading their smell around so that the pee spot seems bigger (and everywhere). Submissive dogs spread to hide their scent and not claim territory. (So I've heard anyway )

One of my dogs, Mocha, does this all the time. She'll even go over every little spot in the yard looking for where my other dogs peed, then she'll pee on top of it and kick. She wants to make sure that her scent is the only one in the yard . She has a very dominant personality...

LOL! Lucy usually pees and runs away! No idea why, but she doesn't like being around where she peed. It's funny she doesn't give a crap about where she pees as long as it's on grass. You give her the smallest piece of ground covered by a few grass bits and she'll pee on it and run away!

Both my dogs do this, both spayed females. They kick like crazy - the younger one was kicking after her potty one night and someone was watching and laughing because she was totally getting into the kicking thing - I had to tell the watcher that it's ALL about the kicking. Going is just an excuse to kick. And many times I've been hit in the head by a clump of dirt as I try to clean up behind a kicking beast